THE shocking reality of soft justice in Labour’s Britain was exposed yesterday by the revelation that thousands of crim­inals, including rapists and paedophiles, were let off by police.

Critics described as disturbing the disclosure that one force allowed 4,256 offenders to go free with a caution, reprimand or final warning in just one year.

Among the serious crimes never brought to trial were 10 sexual offences against children under 13, including three of rape. The rapists got final warnings, while the others were cautioned or reprimanded for sexual assault.

Another 12 sex attackers avoided court for assaults on girls over 13 while one went free after being cautioned for sexually assaulting a boy. In total 1,485 serious offences involving sex or violence went unpunished. Cambridgeshire Police were forced to reveal the figures by a Freedom of Information request.

The scale of the leniency shown by the force provoked an outcry. Shadow Justice Secretary Dominic

Grieve said: “The public will be shocked to learn
that serious offenders are being let off with a slap on the wrist
rather than proper punishments.

“This
Government has failed to build either the prison places or effective
community sentences to ensure criminals see proper justice.”

Matthew
Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Taxpayers
will rightly wonder what their money is funding, if not the prosecution
and punishment of individuals who are a threat to their safety.

“Cambridgeshire
Police should have to explain this state of affairs and reassure
taxpayers that they are indeed cracking down on violent crime and doing
all they can to keep law-abiding residents safe in their beds.”

Warning
that the issue will not be confined to Cambridgeshire alone, Mr Elliott
added: “Right around the country, people are sick of seeing hardened
criminals who damage lives and make people live in fear let off with a
slap on the wrist. The figures from this force could well be just the
tip of the iceberg.”

The figures are for 2008. Although the age of offenders was not spelt out, some will have been under 18 at the time.

Criminals
aged 11 to 17 can be issued with a reprimand and then a final warning,
which stays on their record for two years or until they turn 18.
Cautions are for people aged over 18. Children’s charity Kidscape said
the findings were astonishing. A spokeswoman said: “The fact that any
sex offender should be treated in such a minor way is very disturbing.
Questions need to be asked.

“These crimes
rarely occur in isolation and the point of the criminal justice system
is to deter people from doing anything like this again. This is not
going to happen if sex offenders are just let off with a caution. Our
first priority should be to protect our children.”

Most violent crimes not prosecuted were assaults, with 542 cases of actual bodily harm and 215 of wounding.

Forty-seven
people were cautioned for assaulting a police officer and 68 burglars
got away with cautions or warnings. A police spokesman insisted
cautions were “not an easy option” and stressed that taking a case to
court required victims’ help.

Sergeant Matt
Johnson, head of youth matters at Cambridgeshire Police, said: “A great
deal of consideration is given before an officer issues a caution.

“We
will always take into account the victim and someone must also admit
their involvement in an offence before we can give them a caution or
reprimand. In about 70 per cent of cases, those who are given a
reprimand do not enter the criminal justice system again.”